New Arrival (5)

We bet the summer help will be drawing straws over who gets stuck with cleanup detail, because Cedar Point's new maXair ride doesn't look to be for the faint of heart or stomach. The amusement park's 68th ride will allow 1,000 riders an hour to experience the feeling of weightlessness as they're strapped to the bottom of a giant pendulum and thrown 140 feet into the air. The riding platform will spin clockwise at speeds up to 70 mph and riders' legs will dangle freely. If you're one of Cedar Point's granite-gutted regulars, you can start forming a line when the park opens May 7.

Survey Says

Ohioans drank themselves to a new high in 2004, spending $571 million on liquor containing more than 21 percent alcohol by volume. It topped 2003's sales figures by $35 million and contributed to a 4 percent spike in gallons sold with 2004 totals reaching 323,278. A taste for premium spirits can account for the surge in total sales, but officials at the Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Liquor Control, say new stores in underserved, economically viable areas boosted the overall number of gallons guzzled. What were we swilling? The following are 2004's top-selling brands of spirits: 1. Kamchatka Vodka; 2. Jack Daniels #7 Black Label Tennessee Whiskey; 3. Bacardi Light-Dry Rum; 4. Jägermeister; 5. Absolut Vodka; 6. Black Velvet Canadian Whiskey; 7. Jim Beam Straight Bourbon; 8. Captain Morgan Spiced Gold; 9. Korski Vodka; 10. Seagrams Crown Royal. Cheers!